A FOSTER-MOTHER 233 



crawled slowly in a stupefied manner around the 

 box with her antennae stiffand drooping. A recently 

 emerged worker that I had brought from another 

 nest seemed puzzled at her strange behaviour, and 

 followed her about trying to nestle under her. 



July 2, 8 a.m. As the sick queen seemed no 

 better and still showed no inclination to tend her 

 brood, I put her and her brood into the box 

 containing the queen caught on July J and her 

 brood, and watched the result. The caught queen 

 paid as much attention to the new brood as to her 

 own, sitting now on the one lump and then on the 

 other. She was at first inclined to fear and also 

 attack the sick queen. Discovering, however, that 

 the latter took no notice of her, but only wandered 

 aimlessly about the box, she left her alone. Never- 

 theless, she uttered a short impatient buzz every 

 time she met the sick queen ; it reminded me of 

 the cry often made by queens when they find their 

 brood unexpectedly, but it was a jealous buzz rather 

 than one of pleasure. It was interesting to see how 

 the care of the brood had stimulated her intelligence 

 to its highest pitch of activity. She was keen, alert, 

 and full of life. 



At times she endeavoured to leave the box, but 

 one could see by her behaviour that these attempts 

 were not ordinary efforts to escape but were accom- 

 panied by an overwhelming consciousness of the 

 presence of her brood, showing that her intention 

 was probably to gather food for it. To prove 

 this, I carried the box containing the nest into the 



